1GreenProduct

Tradition is a powerful force for inertia.

Why should wines be bottled in glass? Because that’s the way things are done!

But Boisset Family Estates has recently been bucking the trend with new offerings packaged in plastic and aluminum bottles.

Both the plastic and aluminum bottles are lighter than glass

The Bonus Passus Cotes-du-Rhone by Louis Bernard (MSRP $11.99) comes packaged in a bottle made from PET plastic, as do the Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc Yellow Jersey wines (MSRP $9.99 and $8.99, respectively).

Louis Bernard correctly points out that PET plastic is a very commonly recycled type of plastic. But since glass can be recycled too, we’re most intrigued by the lighter weight of the plastic wine bottles, which therefore reduces the fuel needed to ship the bottles from France to their final destination. Indeed, Louis Bernard estimates that wine packed in plastic bottles has a much smaller carbon footprint than wine packaged in glass bottles.

According to Louis Bernard, other benefits of the plastic packaging include its shatter-proof nature and its hassle-free screw cap. The company also suggests that the PET may do a better job of protecting the wine from oxygen and light, thereby preserving the wine’s quality.

(I have to admit that the screw cap is a nice touch. I thought it might be a bit gauche, but it turned out to be nicely integrated with the bottle design. Corkscrews may be classy, but they can be a huge hassle too, especially if the cork ends up breaking off in the bottle…)

In addition to plastic, Louis Bernard is also experimenting with packaging wine in aluminum. While we can see the benefits of plastic wine bottles, we found the aluminum bottle of Mommessin Beaujolais Grande Reserve 2007 (MSRP $14.99) particular chic and sexy. Meant to be served chilled, the bottle is enhanced further by what Louis Bernard calls Cooldot(TM) technology, a color-changing circle that shows when the wine is at the optimum cool temperature.

Aluminum of course has even better light-blocking abilities than plastic or glass, is also shatter-proof, lightweight and recyclable.

How about the energy needed to recycle these various types of materials? We had a hard time digging up any comparative studies online. We did find one interesting study from Australia in the 1990s (PDF) that showed that glass is actually the least energy intensive to produce both in ‘virgin’ and recycled forms.

So…we must admit that unless the technology for recycling has changed remarkably since then (which it may have), the eco-argument for choosing plastic or aluminum over glass is somewhat diminished, although the lighter weight and therefore lower transport costs (not to mention reduced waste from less breakage) of aluminum and plastic should be considered.

How did the wines fare from a taste standpoint? Frankly, my palate is not really developed enough to pass definitive judgment – which is a discrete way of saying wine tastings and the associated terminology leave me feeling muddled.

Incidentally, kudos to the Boisset Family Estates for practicing biodynamic and organic farming practices with some of its brands including Domaine de la Vougeraie and Chateau La Croix Martelle.

Update #1 – For more on the Boisset patriarch, Jean Charles Boisset, and his experiments in wine packaging innovation, see this 2008 Treehugger.com article.

Update #2 – Ruben Anderson has published an interesting – if somewhat strident – article in The Tyee on how vintners could make their operations more eco-friendly by simply sterilizing and reusing glass bottles. He also strongly advocates drinking locally-produced alcoholic beverages.

Where to Buy:

Use the Where to Buy tab on the Boisset Family Estates website to find a local distributor who can tell you which stores near you stock Yellow Jersey, Bonus Passus, Mommessin and other Boisset Family Estates wines.